Triple objective, 3 draw mahogany barrel telescope by Cummins.

Stock Number:124

£150

A Cummins, of 148 Leadenhall Street, mahogany and brass 3 draw telescope is offered for sale, dating from 1850. This is unusual in that the triple objective is a combination of three separate lenses. Medium sized with an overall length of 28.5 inches.

Dimensions

28.5 inches

Circa

1850

Country of manufacture

UK and Ireland

Categories: Navigational instruments, Telescopes - Refracting

Description

Offered for sale is an antique telescope engraved on the first draw in script “Cummins, 148 Leadenhall St, London”, which means the maker was Charles Cummins, who worked there from 1846-1851. It is a scope with three brass draws, which are tight fitting and slide well: when closed up the length is 9.75″. Unusually the objective is a triple lens sandwich – rather than a doublet – having three lenses nesting together. This possibly improves the image quality, which is excellent, giving a good sharp image when focused. The polished mahogany barrel has brass end fittings, securely attached with the original screws: largest diameter is approx 48mm.

Ask the Dealer

Item enquiry

To enquire about this item, complete the form bellow to send a message to the Dealer

If you are human, leave this field blank.

Name *

Email *

Enter Email

Confirm Email *

Confirm Email

Message *

reCAPTCHA

Dealer information

I first started using a telescope in the 60s, to identify aeroplanes arriving at Yeadon airport, in Yorkshire. Then I started to collect and restore vintage brass scopes in the 1990s. The collection boomed later, in the early days of the internet, rising to around 300 in number. I then made a lot of friends via the internet, advising them on how to identify, date or repair their scopes. At the age of 72 I need to disperse these wonderful bits of engineering history, because they still work today as well as they did 200+ years ago! That is the fascination....Some of my collection have already been sold to collectors spread around, in the UK, USA, Ireland, Israel, France and Germany. Several have been returned to the UK descendants of the people who made them, or relations of their previous owners, because they found the stories on my website. Now the collection needs to be dispersed more systematically, so therefore Fleaglass.com is the place to find the real enthusiasts. The first dozen or so telescopes will be added shortly, so please visit this site again soon! Alternatively, if you are looking for a specific telescope, tell me, as maybe I have one! Nick Denbow, based in Alresford, Hampshire: contact via email on nick@nickdenbow.com